El Dorado

Released 1966

Distributor Paramount

The second entry in Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo trilogy is a virtual remake, ostensibly more playful and less a riposte to High Noon than the (better, let’s face it) original. Still a fun ride with Wayne and Mitchum having an obviously swell time in their only screen pairing, despite the fact that Wayne had Mitchum fired off of Blood Alley a decade earlier. Filming began in late 1965 but the film wasn’t released until 1967. On the heels of the flops Man’s Favorite Sport? and Red Line 7000, it was the hit Hawks needed to stay in the game.

About Jonathan Kaplan

NYU grad and 40-episode ER producer-director Jonathan Kaplan began his career at Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, moving on to AIP and the majors with acclaimed films like Over the Edge, Heart Like a Wheel and The Accused, which won Jodie Foster a Best actress Oscar. His iconic action credits include Truck Turner, White Line Fever and Unlawful Entry. Jonathan is the son of film composer Sol Kaplan and nephew of actor Van Heflin.
Proudly continuing his career trajectory toward The News in Welsh, Kaplan has just wrapped a basic cable “Jiggle Show” where all the men who audition [and there are only young men] must do so topless so the Network can determine if the boys are sufficiently “ripped” to be rewarded the role. Kaplan says, in keeping with his credo that one should learn something from every gig: ”I can confidently report that 6-out-of-10 actors under 30 clearly prefer Calvin Klein.”